In most states of the United States and in some foreign countries, government-conducted or sponsored lotteries provide a great deal of amusement for large numbers of people and generate substantial revenues for many worthwhile general welfare purposes including elementary, secondary and higher education, tax relief for the elderly, local revenue sharing, and other important human service related programs.
In Illinois, for example, the Illinois State Lottery, reporting directly to the Illinois Department of Revenue, conducts three lottery games, namely, a major or basic game "LOTTO", and two subsidiary games, "PICK 4" and the "DAILY GAME".
LOTTO, sometimes referred to as the "6/40" or "6/44" game, involves picking a combination of six numbers from 1 through 40 or 44 with odds ranging upwards from about two million of winning a grand prize of one to several million dollars. PICK 4 involves picking a four-digit number from 0000 through 9999 with odds of one in 10,000 of winning up to $5000. The DAILY GAME involves picking a three-digit number from 000 through 999 with odds of one in 1,000 of winning up to $500.
At the drawing to determine the "6/40" or "6/44" LOTTO winner, forty balls numbered from "01" to "40" or "44" are thoroughly mixed in a machine and balls with the six winning numbers are then drawn from it at random. At the drawing for the PICK 4 game, ten balls numbered from "0" to "9" are thoroughly mixed in each of four separate machines and one numbered ball is drawn at random from each. Similarly, at the drawing for the DAILY GAME, nine balls numbered from "0" to "9" are thoroughly mixed in each of three machines and one numbered ball is drawn at random from each.
At least seventeen other states have identical lottery games and many others have closely similar ones. Canada, and some of the states in the United States have socalled "6/49" lottery games comparable to the above described "6/40" and "6/44" LOTTO games except that the six number combination is picked from a group of forty nine numbered balls instead of forty or forty four, thereby even further reducing the odds in favor of the player.
An interesting aspect of human betting behaviour is that many people feel more comfortable with a psychological crutch of some kind for selecting a playing number. People will pick numbers based on the calendar date, someone's birthday, a street address or automobile license number, and sometimes will pick them from numbered slips of paper. For whatever reason, many people prefer to select game playing numbers with some such help.